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Anyone know of a program that will add a visible date and time stamp to a video file? Preferably, I can just put in the start time of the video and it will just keep incrementing the time as the video plays.

6 Answers
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Most pro non-linear editors (NLEs) such as Vegas or FinalCut include something to do that. Search the documentation for "timecode burn" or "window burn". I know in Sony Vegas it's one of the text effects. While it's possible that the prosumer NLEs like Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, Vegas Studio may have that functionality, I just don't know about those products for sure.

Timecodes can be added in Sony Vegas. It's possible to adjust the vertical and horizontal allignment and scale of the timecodes as well as the format (Time, Frames, Feet).

Open or create a new project in Sony Vegas and switch to the 'Video FX' tab, find the Timecode effect, click and drag one of the formats onto your media event. In my example I've chosen to use the 'Time & Frames' timecode which displays in hours, minutes, seconds and frame number (HH:MM:SS:FF)

If you don't own this software, and you only intend to add a time stamp, you can download a free 30-day trial from the Sony Vegas website.